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hi I'm Tamara kendaker
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[Music]
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whether it's to work at farms hotels
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warehouses restaurants or private homes
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more and more workers are coming into
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Canada through the temporary foreign
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worker program a program that a un
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special rapporteur warned last week is a
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breeding ground for contemporary forms
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of slavery temoya obokata says he heard
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accounts of exploitation and abuse for
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migrant workers during a two-week
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fact-finding mission to Canada there are
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so many indicators of forced labor
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for 50 years now Canadian employers have
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been able to use this program to fill
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positions when they say they can't find
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citizens or permanent residents to do
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them recently Ottawa expanded the
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program to hire more workers for longer
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citing a labor shortage last year Canada
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approved over 200 000 workers nearly 70
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percent more than a year before and now
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we're moving even faster
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some of those workers get paid below a
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province's minimum wage but the
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treatment of agricultural workers has
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been especially controversial Jamaican
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migrant workers were sent back to the
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Caribbean from an Ontario Farm after
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holding a strike in protest of their
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workplace conditions
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some NBC even reported having to
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continue working during heat and smoke
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from wildfires
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so today I'm speaking with the UN
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special rapporture on contemporary forms
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of Slavery to discuss the forces keeping
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these workers in situations that could
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violate their human rights
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tamoya obokata joins me from Manchester
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England
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[Music]
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hi Mr obakata thank you so much for
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doing this you're very welcome
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so I want to start with the word slavery
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that's obviously not a word you throw
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around lightly there's a lot of pain
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behind it centuries of violent
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exploitation of of black people and the
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legacy of that but you've used it in
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reference to the exploitation of some
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workers under Canada's temporary foreign
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worker program why do you think that
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exploitation can be called that yes in
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legal terms the slavery connotes the
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most severe foam or control exercise by
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an exploiter over a victim and when I
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heard stories from migrant workers
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themselves in some cases the degree of
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control I found was quite severe so for
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example they were prohibited from going
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outside of their housing and there's
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excessive surveillance physical violence
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and sometimes sexual violence for female
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workers and all of these factors
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combined me and amount to the most
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severe form of exploitation which is
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slavery so there is a breadth of ways
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Canada uses temporary foreign workers
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but it's worth noting that they make up
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around 15 of all agricultural workers
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what are the sectors in which we might
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see this kind of slavery sure uh there
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are other sectors such as seafood
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processing Construction Services
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hospitality and so-called caregiving or
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domestic work these so-called law
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skilled sectors where the risk of
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exploitation and abuse are likely to be
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quite high right and it's worth noting
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also that the population we're talking
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about is is disproportionately
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racialized Right oftentimes people from
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ethnic minority background or migrant
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workers tend to fail a labor shortage in
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these type of sectors yes
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[Music]
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yeah
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foreign
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I want to pull apart some of the
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exploitation that you just mentioned
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starting with the conditions that people
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are coming to work under so you've said
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in the report the workers in this
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program are given closed work permits
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which is something that our government
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disagrees with but what do you mean by
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closed here initially then that tied to
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a single employer so that they cannot
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clearly change the jobs if even if they
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want to so that's what we mean by a
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closed permit oftentimes victims or the
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workers are afraid to report instances
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of abuse because they are afraid that
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they may lose their job and immediately
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you know Deport it so in one instance I
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heard from about 10 15 my drug workers
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in one part of Canada they were
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instantly dismissed when they tried to
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negotiate their rights like Sarah is
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working conditions and what that means
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then is that that if they don't have a
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work plan and they have to normally go
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back to their own countries now the
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government says that they can remain as
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long as their payment is valid and that
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may be the case but finding an
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alternative employer can cause money
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because they have to file another impact
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assessment and you have to find the
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employer willing to employ those workers
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but oftentimes these workers are
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regarded as troublemakers because they
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lose their state you know status and
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lose their job because they try to
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assert their rights if a worker is
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abused or exploited then they can opt
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for this uh open work permit but that
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process as I heard from a large number
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of Migrant workers it is quite an
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onerous process and during that time
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then they don't have a proper status you
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see so they cannot work and so what
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happens then uh if they don't have that
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means to support themselves they're
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reliant on civil society organizations
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you also write in your report that some
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workers are effectively in debt bondage
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and explain that for me what does debt
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bondage mean in the context of a worker
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coming to Canada so what that basically
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means is that they have to pay a large
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amount of fee to so-called recruitment
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agencies back home in Mexico Ecuador and
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so on and so that means they are
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penniless when they arrive to Canada so
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in a in a way they are not actually
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selling money by working in farms and
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factories but they are simply trying to
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repay their debt they accumulated before
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coming to to Canada so the full amount
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total was thirty thousand dollars that's
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the price an immigration consultant
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charged by one a young woman from India
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she was promised a job attached to a
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labor market impact assessment I didn't
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have any knowledge about any LMI or how
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this process works I from what I have
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heard from like my co-worker is from my
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friends that for lmis you have to pay
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this much amount but I understand last
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year Canada banned employers or
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recruiters acting on behalf of them from
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charging these fees so why hasn't that
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fixed the problem well absolutely I mean
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so you mentioned the talking about
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agencies in Canada not outside of Canada
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you see the Canada hasn't does not have
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a jurisdiction to prosecute and punish
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recruitment agents in Mexico for example
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it is up to those countries to prosecute
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and punish and that's where the
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difficulty lies that it may not be a
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direct responsibility of Canada to
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regulate those conducts but many people
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are tricked by the so-called recruitment
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agents
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[Music]
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thank you
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let's talk about the actual working
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conditions so I know you spoke with a
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lot of Migrant workers for this report
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and you mentioned dangerous tasks and
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tasks outside of their contracts that
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workers have been made to do can you
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just give us some examples of that well
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I mean the very dangerous jobs in
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agriculture shellfish Industries you can
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probably imagine what type of like
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physically demanding uh jobs that they
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may have to undergo operating machines
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picking up fruits and processing seafood
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and so on but on top of that and there
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are other issues I discover such as
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excessive working hours it felt like
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we're a machine you know we're just
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there to work work work work work hard
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Don't Fit Don't question anything you
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know just keep on doing that low pay or
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even less than minimum pay and threat
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and physical and sexual violence
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sometimes and access to healthcare is
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extremely limited so what I've heard
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from various workers is that they are
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discouraged from seeking medical
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attention because employers have to pay
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the insurance premium which they do not
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want to do so oftentimes they have to
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work even if they are ill or injured and
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I find that quite appalling now I'm not
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necessarily saying that this is the
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widespread and systematic problem in all
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parts of Canada I'm not saying that I'm
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sure there are good employers also and
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I'm sure that many migrant workers are
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quite happy with their employers but the
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people that I met unfortunately are
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victimized in exploitation and abuse
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you're not you don't pick and choose the
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days you want to work that's not the way
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this works in a video obtained by CTV
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News Toronto a man can be seen shouting
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and swearing at workers over their
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refusal to work and then you mentioned
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some of these encounters between
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employers and employees I wonder if you
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could elaborate a little bit on that is
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there any one story of of their work
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experience that stood out to you yes uh
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I had a chance to speak to female at my
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broadcast and I it wasn't quite uh also
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got emotional because they were telling
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me the stories about how their employees
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some of them are Canadian but some of
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them are supervisors migrant workers
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themselves uh making a sexual Advance
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sexual harassment during the working
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hours and that is not being properly
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checked and then I find that quite again
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traveling yeah I also wanted to talk
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about where these workers are living
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while they're here so some employers who
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use the temporary foreign worker program
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are also required to have living
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arrangements for the workers and what
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kind of conditions have you heard about
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workers living in yes again my
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experience is limited to the people that
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I've spoken to directly and
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organizations that represent their
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interests but uh some of the working
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conditions are quite uh horrible for
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example in my instance I heard that the
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house is stuffed by up to 40 migrant
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workers which is completely again unsafe
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and sanitary and you have to share
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toilets or shower with so many people
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and it's just that there's no sanitation
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this video allegedly showing a cramped
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bunk house in Windsor was shared by
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advocacy group Justice for migrant
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workers in 2020 one room 12 people
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barely any privacy a previous video
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posted on social media shows a row of
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overflowing toilets with shower curtains
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acting as doors workers around yes no
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gender sensitive Arrangement either both
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male and female workers may have to live
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together sometimes that maybe find in
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certain cultures but not in others
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particularly if you you know come from
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you know Asian and African countries and
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living with male workers is not
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necessarily an ideal condition but all
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of these uh combined I think it's also
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unsafe yeah and then there is also a bit
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of a power imbalance that's created when
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the employer is is controlling workers
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housing right can you talk a bit about
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that absolutely and according to some of
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the stories I've heard there's some
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surveillance going on making sure that
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they do not leave from their house after
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you know working hours so they're
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prohibited the freedom of movement is
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restricted in some cases and then when
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it comes to labor inspections they are
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told to clean their houses so that you
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know the accommodation looks clean and
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and spotless so very exploited regard
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right as well
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[Music]
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the provincial and and federal
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governments they're supposed to perform
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inspections of the conditions for
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foreign workers so why aren't those
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inspections catching these problems yes
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the government disputes this as well and
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say claiming that they do conduct
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inspections and I do believe that they
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do conduct the inspection I don't know
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how many times but what I've heard from
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uh workers themselves and other
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organizations is that the many of these
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are pre-announced so that employers know
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exactly when they're coming so that they
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can prepare so this is where they force
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workers to clean their places clean the
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workplaces or they are told to go away
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so that they are not interviewed by
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inspectors and those who are interviewed
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are oftentimes the new newcomers so that
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they do not exactly know what's
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happening so they will the answer will
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be more positive than negatives so these
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are some of the stories I've heard from
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workers directly
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in theory the workers can also file
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complaints with the provincial federal
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government but why might they not be
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able to and first and foremost access to
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information is limited and so that
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workers don't even know that they can
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complain and that's a serious problem so
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I think the provincial and federal
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governments must do more to inform all
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workers or Avenues to uh complain in
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case of abuse and exploitation and also
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language can be an issue as well uh
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oftentimes they have to report in
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English or French it may be easy for
00:14:36
Canadian Nationals but not for someone
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from South America for example and I do
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appreciate that some provincial
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authorities and they do provide
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information in Spanish and so on but
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many of these information that on the
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website which is not always accessible
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if you have to work in a rural and
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remote areas of Canada I've heard that
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internet access is not as easy as the
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urban areas so these are some of the
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technical difficulties that they faced
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and then and they will be threatened
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with dismissal and deportation by the
00:15:09
employer so they are naturally reluctant
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right so we talked about all the
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different ways that Canada is using
00:15:14
migrant workers and and you highlighted
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how the contributions that they're
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making are vital to Canada's economy and
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there's a pretty consistent demand for
00:15:23
the labor that they're providing and to
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me it makes sense that if we need
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someone's labor for most of the year
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every year we might let them officially
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live here so given that how easy is it
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for these workers to become permanent
00:15:39
residents well at current moments The
00:15:42
Avenues are at limited according to the
00:15:44
information I've received but there's an
00:15:46
Avenue for if you're a caregiver
00:15:48
domestic workers because of the
00:15:49
historical issues from certain regions
00:15:52
of the world I think that Canada has
00:15:53
decided to open the Avenue for permanent
00:15:56
residency for domestic workers but
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that's not the case for for other
00:16:00
sectors so it is in most cases no
00:16:04
there's no chance
00:16:06
why do you view this as a kind of
00:16:08
discrimination one that's sort of baked
00:16:11
into our immigration system again work
00:16:14
as a racialized so there is that element
00:16:16
of perhaps like an Institutional racism
00:16:18
and and so on that may be preventing you
00:16:22
know the governments of freely allowing
00:16:24
workers to come and live for a long
00:16:27
period of time and so so that's some of
00:16:29
the things that have been raised by
00:16:31
workers themselves and in other entities
00:16:34
these are deep rooted racism that may
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exist in in Canada and and so on
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[Music]
00:16:44
thank you
00:16:47
foreign
00:16:54
you're also looking at other places in
00:16:56
the world where slavery or indentured
00:16:59
servitude are happening I'm wondering
00:17:01
where have you seen situations that are
00:17:04
comparable to what workers are
00:17:06
experiencing in Canada sure last year I
00:17:10
visited Costa Rica and it's the
00:17:12
experience for example by indigenous
00:17:15
peoples and ethnic minorities as well as
00:17:18
migrant workers are quite quite similar
00:17:20
in terms of exploitation the power
00:17:22
relationship they have between the
00:17:24
employers and and employees and so on I
00:17:27
thought that was quite comparable and
00:17:29
also went to Sri Lanka where they also
00:17:31
have for example tea plantations and the
00:17:33
experience is much similar the similar
00:17:36
picture emerges or workers being
00:17:38
exploited because of their kind weaker
00:17:40
status and position in their society
00:17:43
it's interesting when I was reading the
00:17:45
report I was also struck by the
00:17:47
similarities between the work contracts
00:17:50
here and in Gulf countries that also use
00:17:53
migrant workers like Qatar which got a
00:17:56
lot of attention recently because of the
00:17:58
World Cup Nepalese make up the highest
00:18:00
numbers but lowest paid migrant laborers
00:18:02
in Qatar
00:18:04
they're victims of a state-run
00:18:06
sponsorship system which binds each
00:18:08
worker to a single employer
00:18:10
they cannot leave their job or even the
00:18:12
country without their employer's
00:18:14
permission
00:18:15
and I was wondering do you also see
00:18:17
those similarities yes yes absolutely
00:18:21
and it's quite comparable to this this
00:18:23
is so called a kafala system in the
00:18:25
Middle East
00:18:28
it's quite similar in that it's tied to
00:18:31
a single employer so if they leave the
00:18:34
employee they become undocumented and
00:18:37
lose their status so that makes them
00:18:39
vulnerable now Canada you know it does
00:18:41
seem to have a better protection than
00:18:43
those countries but in terms of
00:18:45
exploitation is quite the same and this
00:18:48
is also a it's quite similar for other
00:18:50
developed countries like uh United
00:18:52
Kingdom United States European Union
00:18:54
countries where they also have so-called
00:18:56
temporary foreign workers programs and
00:18:59
oftentimes they are tied to a single
00:19:01
employer and that leads to all sorts of
00:19:03
uh problems so I think yes Canada as the
00:19:06
system is much similar to the Middle
00:19:08
East and and rest of the world where
00:19:09
they have all these type of uh temporary
00:19:11
workers programs
00:19:13
I also find it interesting Canada has
00:19:16
taken a number of steps to prevent
00:19:17
importing goods from abroad that are a
00:19:19
product of forced labor they're banned
00:19:22
as a part of the new NAFTA agreement but
00:19:24
based on what we've been talking about
00:19:26
is it fair to say that there are
00:19:28
canadian-made Goods that are also the
00:19:30
products of forced labor potentially I
00:19:33
mean if you're talking about
00:19:33
agricultural products in Canada and they
00:19:36
are made with false labor through the
00:19:39
exploitation of Migrant workers so so
00:19:41
definitely I would say yes yeah so who
00:19:44
in Canada needs to be held responsible
00:19:47
for failing to make sure that workers
00:19:49
rights are respected well the public
00:19:52
authorities they have primary
00:19:53
responsibility to protect the rights of
00:19:56
all workers whether they are Canadians
00:19:58
or migrants or you know you should make
00:20:00
that distinction as long as they are
00:20:02
within Canada they should be entitled to
00:20:04
the same rights and protection labor law
00:20:07
protection so I would say the federal
00:20:09
government as well as the provincial or
00:20:11
territorial authorities because many of
00:20:14
the sectors that we are talking about
00:20:15
under the temporary foreign workers
00:20:17
program are regulated at the provincial
00:20:20
level through the employment standards
00:20:23
legislation whereas the federal level
00:20:25
could only covered for example banking
00:20:27
the finance and transport and so on
00:20:31
foreign
00:20:33
[Music]
00:20:43
if you could just leave us with a
00:20:45
message for Canadians
00:20:48
um this is an issue that can be pretty
00:20:50
easy to ignore because these workers are
00:20:53
sometimes so removed from us and we may
00:20:56
not realize how much difficult labor
00:20:58
temporary workers are taking on but we
00:21:01
benefit from the goods and services that
00:21:03
they're providing and and how they boost
00:21:04
our economy so why is it important you
00:21:08
think for Canadians to speak up for
00:21:11
temporary workers
00:21:13
I think yeah we're all saying human
00:21:15
beings and it would be wonderful to be
00:21:17
able to uh treat each other with respect
00:21:19
and dignity that we all deserve and that
00:21:22
I know that many Canadians have very
00:21:24
welcoming of foreign Nationals including
00:21:26
migrant workers and I think that's a
00:21:28
behavior I'd like to uh see more of in
00:21:31
general I think Canadian people are
00:21:33
great but it's a small number of
00:21:36
employers who exploit these workers and
00:21:39
and then the reputation of the rest of
00:21:40
the country goes quite bad I think
00:21:42
that's quite unfortunate but and I think
00:21:45
my message is to Canadian people is that
00:21:48
if they suspect any instances later
00:21:50
abuse and exploitation please do reports
00:21:54
particularly because migrant workers
00:21:57
often do not or cannot so you know they
00:21:59
could play a part in exposing all this
00:22:02
the Rogue employers and hold them
00:22:05
accountable for their appalling Behavior
00:22:10
okay Mr robocata thank you so much for
00:22:12
your time I appreciate it oh you're very
00:22:14
welcome thank you for your interest in
00:22:16
this uh story
00:22:17
[Music]
00:22:25
so before we go today we reached out for
00:22:28
a response from the office of Randy
00:22:30
wasino who's the minister of employment
00:22:32
and Workforce Development and a
00:22:34
statement his office said that it
00:22:36
disagrees with aspects of the report but
00:22:38
it highlighted that it recently
00:22:40
strengthened regulations protecting
00:22:42
migrant workers including prohibiting
00:22:45
reprisals from employers and just
00:22:47
invested almost 50 million dollars in a
00:22:50
support program it said the ministry is
00:22:52
improving the quality of inspections
00:22:54
finally it highlighted paths to becoming
00:22:57
permanent residents through an ongoing
00:22:59
pilot program for agricultural workers
00:23:01
and provincial nominee programs that's
00:23:04
all for today I'm Tamara kendaker thanks
00:23:07
for listening to Front Burner
00:23:12
[Music]
